Hi!
I hope to see postings from competitors around the country. Out here in CA there are only a few of us GWP handlers. What a fun sport, made even more challenging with the breed we have! My dog and I are having a blast, she is definitely the better half of this team, I'm playing catch up to her!
Pam

I live in Colorado & am the only GWP owner crazy enough to run my male in agility. It has been a challege, but finally at the tender age of eight, he is starting to pay attention to me instead of making up his own courses. I too have to hustle to keep up with him.

My 9 month old GWP/Lab cross absolutly loves the obsticles. We are in a puppy program. (low jumps, low low risk of injury...)

He loves the shute and the contact obsticles. You just can't keep him off the A-frame, (which is not a good thing when the A-frame is not the next obsticle in the sequence.) He is definitily the most fearless and fastest dog in his class, but the worst listener.

I realize this thread is old, but I'm starting my 15-month-old girl in her second class of agility. Inclement weather caused us to miss a couple of the classes in Level I so I'm going to take it over again. More fun that way anyway!

And only three days ago she finally figured out the weave poles! It was a miracle. I could never get her through them without weaving a treat through the poles, and you could tell she wasn't comprehending the exercise AT all. I've been training Matea with a remote collar for the past several weeks, but have no intention of using it in agility. We're just out to have fun, not work. Anyway, I was in the back yard, had the collar on and was working some retrieving. I focused her on the weave poles, and she decided to sniff something instead. I gave her a very light nick to get her attention, and repeated my command "weave". I couldn't believe. She bounded right through them as though someone had been training my dog over the past few weeks. She TOTALLY gets them! Of course, I've got only 8 poles right now in my yard, and they're at slight angles still to aid her, but now she bounds through them just so I'll toss her rope toy for her.

Good luck with Matea in agility. You will have lots of fun. My Raina had problems with the weave poles also. It seemed to be a pointless exercise to her. Once the light came on though, it became much easier.
Have lots of patience and a good sense of humor. It's amazing what a GWP will think of to create their own courses, and unique ways of doing obstacles. Never a dull moment!
Pam
Proud teammate of Aspendel Seminole Wind MX. MXJ

My 2 yr old boy is 80 very fit lbs of enthusiasm and taller than the average GWP. I've stopped doing agility with him cuz I'm afraid he's going to fall off the dog walk and blow out a stifle. I'm brand new to agility (and this is also my first, but not last! GWP), so this is based on nothing more than a feeling I get and a conversation with a woman with boxers who said she stopped using her big male boxer after he'd done just that: blown both stifles. Anyone have any insights? It's not that Rollick is out of control--he's just big and HAPPY to be doing it.
As for weave poles: these GWPs are so darned smart, I think they tend to look at the weave poles and ask "Why?" All the other obstacles make sense in their own way. It's kinda' like a good field hunter horse who won't jump in a ring--he figures there's no point: hounds aren't running, and there's a way around jumps in a ring.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts. This forum is proving invaluable to me in many ways. Cheers, Rollick

My male wire is 26 inches at the shoulder & weighs 65 pounds. He has never had any problems with the dog walk & I have been running him in agility for 5 years now. He always watches where his feet are & has yet to fall off the dog walk. He loves to jump & do tunnels.

Rollick-
I agree that your dog should be fine in agility.
It is unfortunate that your friend's dog suffered the knee injuries it did, but that is the rare exception.
Keeping the agility athlete in top physical condition is imperative. There is no way to predict, or to some extent, prevent an injury, but running a safe line on the course really helps cut that down. In no way do I try to ask my GWP to do the angles and contact approaches seen by the Border Collies. Their body structure is different and your dog will let you know what he is capable of.
Honor his abilities, run a safe course, and you'll do great.
Run fast, run clean........
Pam

Well, I've added more poles to the run. We've got 14 poles now, still at angles though. As soon as we get another good rain to soften the ground, I'll reposition the poles so that they're at less of an angle. Couple weeks of that I'll put them straight.

What I find now is that I have to give her "easy" through the poles as she tends to want to leap/bound through them. But she sure has got it.

As for the dog walk... I can't take Matea on the dog walk without one of the instructors assisting at this point. She's a very long-legged 24+ inches, and at only 15-months-old she's still pretty gangly. We were doing well with the dog walk over the winter months until they brought in a different dog walk that had been outside under some trees for a long time. My guess it had become a squirrel walk, and Matea was going nuts on the scents. Because her legs are so long she tends to have to widen her stance for her nose to hit the ground... well, you can't widen your stance on a dog walk! She'd have the whole thing wobbling, and then slip off. I caught her each time but she got her belly scraped a few times. Never learned her lesson though. Right back at it. She's all huntin' dog...and knows no pain.

Hi guys I am new to GSPs, the forum, and have not done agility but I am interested in all the above!!
Could you guys and girls help me out? How can I get into agility?? HELP!!!! _________________there are no bad dogs only bad owners

Agility is GREAT fun! You best bet is going to be to call you nearest Obedience club and if you don't have one.. your nearest kennel club. If you don't know how to find them off hand, check with the vets, or the local PetsMart or PetCo. If that doesn't work, you can check the AKC's site for listing of local club (I think they have that)

Good luck! It's SO MUCH fun!! My girl was running in agility, but after two years of training the lightbulb never did come on for the weaves. We tried all the tricks from the position of the poles to clicking. It didn't matter, she simply never understood. But that was OK by me. We competed in novice level where we didn't have to do poles and had a ball. She never placed out of the ribbons and in he height class that meant she had to beat the Border Collies!! I was VERY proud!

These dogs were made for it!!!!
They are as fast as most border collies and just as agile.
I am currently training my 20 month old ...hope yo see more of you out there training and competing!!
Nikki
Jay-Mar's GWP's